Understanding the Spirit Realm

Understanding the unseen world is a critical part of the Believer's journey. Yet so few of us get any training or teaching on it. This must change.

We are embarking on the final week of our unstuck journey. This will, by far, be the most in-depth portion of our time together as we look at the biggest part of the unstuck journey – spiritual warfare. I want to encourage you to press through these last few days, as I believe deep revelation will happen this week for you. Yes, the mind, mouth, and heart certainly matter, as we have discussed. Additionally, obedience is a big part of the journey and a critical component of our freedom. But until we discuss the unseen world and the attacks our enemy, Satan, wages against us regularly, we are only mildly equipped to become unstuck.

The Bible tells us that there is an unseen realm. In fact, we see mention of the spirit realm (or unseen realm) a number of times throughout Scripture, including 2 Corinthian 4:18, Colossians 1:16-17, Ephesians 6:12, Psalm 82:1, and Hebrews 11:1, to name a few. Why do we put no focus on the unseen? Our very faith in Christ is trusting in what we cannot see!

Just as there is much physical activity that takes place each day in our lives, including our daily shower, meals, workplace activities, phone conversations, and so much more, there is also much spiritual activity. We tend to focus far more of our attention on those things we see – the tangible, natural world around us - versus those things we don't. However, the Bible tells us throughout Scripture that there is an unseen realm that should get our attention. The things we see will one day pass away, according to Jesus in Matthew 24:35. What will remain is what isn't seen.

The unseen realm has levels of warfare with various players, including kingdoms, rulers, and authorities, as detailed in both Colossians 1 and Ephesians 6. Did you know that in the book of Revelation, there are seven letters written to 7 churches, and among other content, the letters talk about Satan's synagogue, throne, and secrets? This is part of the unseen world. There is much to understand about all that Satan is doing now, his mission, and how he attempts to accomplish it. In fact, people dedicate their lives to the dissection of theology in the subject matter.

Consider 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT), which says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." How do we think the enemy is roaming around, seeking to devour us? What does that look like in our daily lives? I do not believe that everything is the devil, but I am certainly in the group that believes some things are! In fact, I believe a lot of things are! Why are we spending no time in most of our churches discussing the enemy of our souls? We certainly see that the Lord does in His Word. If Satan is brave enough to approach the very Savior of the world and tempt him in Matthew 4:1-11, why would we be foolish enough to think he wouldn't dare approach us to wreak havoc?

While I am not attempting to arrest this whole unstuck journey with a deep exegesis of Scripture in the areas of demonology and spiritual warfare, I want to highlight that there is an enemy of your soul, and he very much seeks to destroy you. We must first be aware of the unseen realm and Satan's plot, and then we must stand against him. How do we do that? We're going to cover those details in this final week, including spiritual authority, bloodline curses and patterns, spiritual disciplines, and more. These are the tools we use to become unstuck in the area of spiritual warfare!

Points to Ponder:

• Has your church spent much time dissecting Scripture on the unseen realm and spiritual warfare? Do you feel you are well-equipped with biblical knowledge in this area?
• Has this subject been one that has caused great fear? Could some fear be due to a lack of knowledge?